A photo released by Chantal Beyer's family shows the 24-year-old and her husband standing perilously close to a pair of rhinos just seconds before the attack that left her with a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

Thom Peeters said Beyer told him that she and her husband were advised by the game park owner, Alex Richter, to "stand just a little bit closer" to the rhinos so he could take their picture.

Richter was leading a group of nine on a tour of the reserve when he stopped the car near the rhinos and lured them closer with some food. He insisted it was safe to exit the vehicle and approach the animals.

"There were quite a lot of young people on the vehicle and they probably felt they could trust Richter, who was an adult," Peeters said.